Railroad-tie.



PATENTED JULY 12, 1904 R. L. ROUI RAILROAD TIE.

APPLI N FILED APR. 8, 1904v N0 MODEL.

Hlllllllll Ill Inventor PX ttornegs Patented July 12, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT LEE ROUIS, OF CATLIN, GEORGIA.

RAILROAD-TIE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 765,101, dated July 12, 1904. Application filed April 8,1904. Serial No. 202,231. (No model.)

To on whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT LEE Roms, a citizen of the United States,residing at Catlin, in the county of Laurens and State of Georgia, haveinvented a new and usefu Railroad-Tie, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to railroad construction; and it has for itsobject to provide a railroad-tie adapted to support the rails and whichshall possess superior advantages in point of simplicity, durability,inexpensiveness, and

general efficiency.

With these ends in view the invention may be said to consist in acombined plastic and metallic tie, including a body made of plasticmaterial and a cap which is constructed of metal, said parts beingconstructed and adapted to cooperate to engage and to hold the railssecurely.

The invention further consists in the improved construction and novelcombination and arrangement of parts, which will be hereinafter fullydescribed, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings has been illustrated a simple and preferredform of embodimentof the invention, it being, however, understood thatno limitation is made to the precise structural details thereinexhibited, but that the right is reserved to all changes, alterations,and modifications which may be resorted to within the scope of theinvention and without departing from the spirit or sacriiicing theefliciency of the same.

In said drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of a railroad-tieconstructed in accordance with the principles of the invention. Fig. 2is a longitudinal sectional view of the same. Fig. 3 is a transversesectional view. Fig. I is a perspective view of the plastic body of thedevice, the cap having been removed from the same. Fig. 5 is a plan viewillustrating the method of placing the ties under the rails in theprocess of road construction.

Corresponding parts in the several figures are indicated by similarnumerals of reference.

In the construction of my improved railroadtie is included a body 1,which is constructed of plastic material of any description,

such as cement, concrete, beton, or any of the varlous plastic mixturesin Wl11Cl1 a binding medlum, such as ordinary Portland cement, is

employed. The body 1 is made preferably rectangular in plan of the sizeand outline of an ordinary wooden tie, although it is to be understoodthat I do not limit myself as to the size or form of said body. Theupper part of the latter, however, is molded with a gable 2, havinginclined ends 3 3, so that moisture will be shed from all sides. In theprocess of molding or otherwise forming the body 1 a pair ofvertically-disposed bolts 4 4 are embedded in the latter, the threadedends of said bolts extending through and above the inclined ends 3 3.

5 designates a metallic cap which is fitted to the upper side of thebody l-that is, to the gable and to the inclined ends of the latter.Said cap is provided at the edges thereof with upwardly-extendingvertically-disposed flanges 6 6, provided at their upper edges withrailengaging hooks 7, each flange being provided with a pair of thesehooks and the hooks upon the two flanges being faced in oppositedirections and suitably spaced apart, so that when a pair of rails areplaced in position and the tie having the cap is placed obliquely belowsaid rails a slight lift and partial turn of the tie will cause thehooks to engage the railflanges, whereby the tie and cap will thus besuspended until the ground underneath the tie has been filled and tampedsufficiently to support the latter. The cap 5 is connected securely withthe body 1 of the tie by means of the bolts 4, which extend throughperforations 8 in the inclined ends of the cap-plate. Upon the extendedends of the bolts are placed wedge-shaped washers 9, against which thenuts 10 are tightened, thus rigidly and permanently connecting themembers of the tie.

In the process of road construction a pair of rails (designated 11) maybe first supported at their ends upon a pair of the improved ties, aswill be seen in Fig. 5 of the drawings, said rails being properly gradedand leveled. Trenches are then dug at suitable intervals and ofsufficient width and depth to enable the intermediate ties to beinserted under the rails, after which by partly lifting and turning theties the hooks 7 thereof will be caused to engage the rail-flanges, bywhich the ties will thus be supported until the said ties are madesecure by ballasting and tamping underneath.

In the construction of railroads where ties of ordinary construction areused it is well known that after a short time the ties will settle andthat consequently a considerable vibration will be created in the railsby rolling-stock passing over the latter. This vibration, which is knownas churning, has a tendency,'especially in wet weather, to cause theballast to be expelled from beneath the ties by the up-and-down movementof the latter when trains are passing over the road. The ties will thusin a short time become completely loosened, and the road will be in adangerous condition unless the ties and ballast are constantly andcarefully looked after. By my improvement as soon as the ties begin tosettle the nuts 10 upon the connecting-bolts 4 are to be loosened, andthe bodies of the ties will thus be permitted to settle, while the caps15 will practically be suspended from the rails, thereby avoiding theobjectionable churning of the ties. The consequence is that the ballastof the road will receive comparatively little or no injury and thatafter a proper time has been permitted to elapse for the ties to settlea single reballasting and retamping will be all that is necessary toaccomplish the same salutary eflects which when ordinary ties areemployed it frequently requires a number of operations to accomplish.

The cap 5, with its flanges 6, may be either cast or stamped orotherwise constructed from metal in any convenient manner. Therailflange-engaging hooks may be integral with said flanges, or they maybe detachably connected therewith, if preferred, within the scope of theinvention.

Owing to the peculiar construction of the plastic bodies of the tieswith gable-shaped upper sides having inclined ends it is absolutelyimpossible for the rail-supporting caps to become displaced even afterthe nuts 10 have been loosened to enable the caps to take up thevibration of the rails, the caps being inevitably guided properly totheir seats upon the plastic bodies owing to the construction set forth.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is.

1. A rail-supporting device consisting of a plastic body having agable-shaped upper side provided with. inclined ends, a metallicrailsupporting cap fitted to the same, connectingbolts, wedge-shapedwashers upon the latter engaging the inclined ends of the cap, andtightening-nuts.

2. A rail-supporting device consisting of a plastic body having agable-shaped upper side with inclined ends, bolts embedded in andextending upwardly from said body at the inclined ends thereof, ametallic rail-supporting cap fitted to the upper side of the body andhaving inclined ends provided with perforations for the passage of thebolts, wedgeshaped washers, and tightening-nuts.

3. A rail-supporting device including a plastic body, and arail-supporting cap having rail-flange-engaging hooks supported upon anddetachably connected with said body.

4:. A railroad-tie consisting of a body formed of plastic material andhaving a gable-shaped upper side provided with inclined ends, boltsembedded in said body and extending upwardly from the inclined ends, ametallic cap fitted to the top of the tie and having perforations forthe passage of the bolts, wedgeshaped washers and tightening-nuts uponthe latter, and rail-supporting flanges extending upwardly from theedges of the cap and having rail-flange-engaging hooks.

5. A railroad-tie or rail-supporting device including a plastic bodyhaving an upper side which is inclined from its apex downwardly in alldirections, a metallic cap fitted to the upper side of said body andconnected detachably therewith,.flanges extending upwardly from thelower edges of said cap, and railengaging means connected with saidflanges.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aflixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT LEE Roms. Witnesses T. D. SMITH, J. H. WALTON.

